February 11, 2010

Who else to size up Rajaratnam at that moment but Nassim Nicholas Taleb — author of The Black Swan and one of the world’s most influential thinkers, some say. Why Taleb? They were classmates in the ’80s at the Wharton business school, which keeps taking big hits of bad publicity whenever one of its grads pleads guilty in the Galleon scheme.

On purpose or not, Rajaratnam became the (reputedly) richest Sri Lankan-born person in the world and is accused of being the kingpin of one of the biggest insider-trading scandals ever.

Rajaratnam and Taleb weren’t apparently the closest of pals. But Rajiv Goel, later an Intel exec, was a good buddy of Rajaratnam’s at Wharton. And so was Anil Kumar, a senior partner and global-consulting giant McKinsey & Co.

A previous Wharton alum, junk bond king Michael Milken, was embroiled in a monumental and famous insider-trading scandal in the late ’80s; he was indicted in 1989 on numerous racketeering and fraud charges.

In 1990, Milken pled guilty to a few counts, paid $200 million in fines, and was banned for life from the securities industry. Back on top now, Milken presents on his website an astoundingly detailed public-relations blitzkrieg in his own defense.

Whether or not he ever felt shame, Wharton officials certainly did. A month after Milken’s plea deal with the government, the school quietly removed his portrait from its Wall of Fame.

These days, the school may not offer its graduating M.B.A.’s a Harvard-style voluntary oath against greed. But Wharton does offer a Ph.D. in business ethics. (More information here).